Students top fundraising target for Scottish 10k run

A group of former Douglas Academy pupils have smashed their fundraising target in an attempt to help fight Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Connor Brolly, Kenny Lupton, Stuart Ross, Stewart Patience, David Bryden Thomas Wild and Shad Jaff all took part in the Great Scottish 10k in Glasgow last weekend.

The group of students took up the cause on behalf of old school friend Taylor Deans diagnosed with ulcerative colitis three years ago.

Taking part in last Sunday’s event, the group had planned to raise at least £500 but as of yesterday, the Tail’s Pals webpage had received just over £1,177 in donations.

They are set to hand over their proceeds to Scots charity Cure Crohn’s Colitis (C3) who support medical research.

The group have been blown away by the response from donors and are hoping to add to their total this week.

David said: “It was a great run for us — we all stuck together as a group round the whole thing as well.

“Taylor was really pleased with the effort and came out along with a few other friends to cheer us on as well. We’ve known each other for about 12 years now and we’re a really close group.

“Our friend Shad has still to run his leg this weekend so we hope to get even more.”

Connor added: “We really didn’t expect to get as much as we have. And the donations are still coming in.”

Both Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis are the two main forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). w Researchers now believe IBD is caused by a combination of genetic factors and an abnormal reaction of the immune system to bacteria in the gut.Symptoms can include abdominal pain, severe fatigue and weight loss.

Effects can range in severity and in some cases, major surgery is needed.

Around one in 200 people in the UK are now believed to suffer from the condition

According to leading Glasgow gastroenterologist Dr Daniel Gaya, one child a week is now diagnosed with a form of IBD at Yorkhill Hospital.

Anyone can develop the disease but the conditions mainly affect those between the ages of 15 and 35.

For more info on IBD, visit www.curecrohnscolitis.org or to donate to the group’s just giving page, visit www.justgiving.com/tailspals